Friday, April 11, 2014

Larwyn's Linx: Sen. Manchin (D-WV) Says Obama's Hateful Rhetoric Helped Kill Equal Pay Bill

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Sen. Manchin (D-WV): Obama's Hateful Rhetoric Helped Kill Equal Pay Bill: TR
Oversight committee votes to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress: DC
Meet the 2016 Republican Nominee: Daren Jonescu

Catherine Engelbrecht hammers Elijah Cummings over new emails: Scoop
Obama’s Politicized, Lawless Executive Branch: David Limbaugh
Pat Roberts: did he ever live in Kansas?: Milton Wolf

35 "Acts of Love": Breitbart
Holder has Rare Moment of Honesty: Hannity
Open Letter from Rep. Matt Shea: SSI

Economy

Common Core Lesson Teaches that America is a Racist Nation: TPNN
The US Consumer Is So Strong, Family Dollar Is Closing 370 Stores: ZH
LA Commission Studies Pension Crisis, Recommends New Commission: Mish

Scandal Central

1,576,263 veterans and their claims are “…NOT RELEVANT…”!!!: VetWarriors
Revolution Now In Nevada – What You Can Do To Fight Back: Susan Duclos
Holder’s Gun Tracking Proposal is De Facto Gun Registration: FreePost

Sessions: Immigration Laws Have Collapsed and it's Deliberate: Nice Deb
Dem. Elijah Cummings tries to defend coordination with IRS effort to target True the Vote: BPR
Coalition of Western Legislators, Sheriffs, Veterans Stand Vigil in Support of Embattled Rancher: SSI

Media

Obamacare: Still Very Unpopular, and No Prog "Unskewing" of the Polls Can Change That: Ace
Klein, Krugman offer biased views of confirmation bias: Jonah Goldberg
Thought police on patrol: Krauthammer

“‘Dan Snyder is trying to buy the right to be racist.’ – Jesse Ventura”: Protein Wisdom
My Back Pages: Ed Driscoll
Casinos shudder over possible federal requirement to divulge source of high rollers’ gambling funds: RJ

Sharyl Attkisson: CBS Moved On From 'Fast and Furious'--'Barely Begun to Scratch the Surface': NB
Leftist Academia Publishes “Guide” For Journalists: How to Whitewash Islam In Reporting: WZ
Colbert’s Act Won’t Work On The Late Show: Glob

World

The Legacy of Obama’s Illegal Alien Aunt: Michelle Malkin
Army goes to war with National Guard, seizes Apache attack helicopters: Times
Putin Sends Letter to 18 Countries Threatening to Cut Supply of Gas: Mish

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

CNNx Empowering Digital, Second Screen Viewers to Customize Experience: LostRemote
From quark soup to ordinary matter: Karen McNulty, Symmetry
Good News: Windows XP Alive & Well in ICS/SCADA Networks: Dark Reading

Cornucopia

Up to 5,000 Armed Militia Members Will Be Arriving in Bunkerville, Nevada Today: SHTFplan
Michelle’s Exciting New Exercise Program: Ladies, Get Your Guns!: MOTUS
Great Depression II: David Zuniga

Image: At least 9 dead as bus, truck crash in California
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Matt Bevin for Senate -- Help Fire Mitch McConnell

QOTD: "As defenders of Brendan Eich’s defenestration from Mozilla are right to note, the government didn’t force him out. The company merely exercised its rights in a free society. The same goes for Brandeis University, which rescinded Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s invitation for an honorary degree because she’s considered politically incorrect for her criticism of Islam.

But the liberal tribe seems to champion such freedoms only when they line up with its own worldview. You can have all the freedom and autonomy you want, so long as it yields progressive ends. But if you don’t want to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding, or if you’re a nun who doesn’t want to pay for something you don’t need and are morally opposed to, that’s too bad. The right to be wrong, in liberals’ eyes, is a right only liberals should have, even if, like Paul Krugman, you never need to exercise it. And, all too often, when you are wrong, that’s when liberals bring out their hammers." --Jonah Goldberg

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Obama Budget Lays Groundwork for Universal Gun Registration... and Eventual Confiscation

Guest post by GOA

Last Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder testified before a House appropriations subcommittee on behalf of his department's proposed budget for FY2015.

Apparently, Holder didn't think anyone would read his written submission, because he all-but-admitted that Obama intends to implement a Universal Gun Registry by executive fiat.

He also asked Congress to help fund so-called “smart gun” technology, which would prevent a gun from firing unless the shooter is wearing an accompanying bracelet or ring.

“Smart guns” are a dumb idea

Given that “smart gun” technology only works about 80 percent of the time -- according to the New Jersey Institute of Technology -- gun owners almost universally consider this a “dumb” idea.

Even police have rejected the “dumb gun” approach for themselves.

Currently, there are no such guns on the market in the United States. One gun store did briefly offer an Armatix .22 caliber earlier this year, but public outrage forced them to pull the handgun from the shelves.

Holder pushes a Universal Gun Registry

This year’s Obama budget shows how the administration is trying to quietly create the infrastructure for a universal gun registry.

In proposed “Program Increases” for the FBI, Holder has this to say:

ELIJAH CUMMINGS CAUGHT IN A CIRCLE OF CORRUPTION: Who Will Oversee the Overseers?

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Corruption: New IRS emails released by a congressional panel show staff working for the Democratic ranking member communicated with the IRS multiple times in 2012 and 2013 about a voter-fraud prevention group.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said on CNN's "State of the Union" last year, "Based upon everything I've seen, the case is solved. And if it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on, to be frank with you."

Of course he wanted to move on, for he had been working hand in glove with the IRS to target conservative groups and wanted the fact to remain a secret.

On Feb. 6, in a subcommittee hearing that heard the testimony of Catherine Engelbrecht — founder of True the Vote, who was targeted by the IRS, FBI and other federal agencies — Cummings vehemently denied having any contact or coordination in targeting True the Vote.

Responding, attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is representing True the Vote, indicated that staff on the committee had been involved in communication with the IRS. In short, Cummings was not telling the truth.

The Democrats' War on Women: By the Numbers

No, not Bill "Blue Dress" Clinton, Ted "Splash" Kennedy, John "That Ain't Mah Babeee" Edwards or Anthony "Tweet My" Weiner.

Just the real numbers facing women (and all Americans) under the disastrous Obama-Pelosi-Reid economy:


$17.6 Trillion:

Total Debt Under Obama As Of April 8, 2014. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 4/8/14)

$10.6 Trillion:

Total Debt When Obama Became President On January 1, 2014. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 4/8/14)

$6.9 Trillion:

Amount Of Debt Obama Has Added To The Federal Debt Since Becoming President. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 4/8/14)

$2 Trillion:

Cost Of ObamaCare’s Coverage Provisions From 2014 To 2024. (The Congressional Budget Office, 2/4/14)

$1.1 Trillion:

The Amount Of Student Loan Debt Currently Amassed . (“Household Debt & Credit,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Accessed 4/8/14)

$819.3 Billion:

Total Taxes In ObamaCare. (CBO, 3/12;JCT, 6/15/12;CBO, 5/14/13; CBO, 7/30/13)

Kathleen Sebelius Resigns, Will Seek Employment in Lucrative Building Implosion Industry

But that's just a guess about her next career move.

Just for fun, let's examine how the DNC public relations flacks at The New York Times put it:

Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week, and on Friday morning he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, officials said.

The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the law, persuade a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.

Officials said Ms. Sebelius, 65, made the decision to resign and was not forced out. But the frustration at the White House over her performance had become increasingly clear, as administration aides worried that the crippling problems at HealthCare.gov, the website set up to enroll Americans in insurance exchanges, would result in lasting damage to the president’s legacy.

Ouch. That's the Times, mind you.

Sebelius is just the latest political victim of the Obamacare debacle. She won't be the last.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Emails: Lois Lerner Fed Tax Information to Democrat Elijah Cummings

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Emails: Lois Lerner Fed Tax Information to Democrat Elijah Cummings: Pavlich
Lois Lerner Hoped To Get A Job With Organizing For Action: LoneCon
Rep. Elijah Cummings could go to prison for 5 years: AmJrnl

"The First Amendment is Not an Area": Mark Steyn
Democratic Senators Refuse Equal Pay?: Moe Lane
Ways and Means refers Lois Lerner for criminal prosecution: WFP

Reid and Schumer took Koch money: Power Line
Holder explodes over Contempt of Congress citations: John Hayward
Eric Holder Suggests that Racism is Behind Tough Questioning: PJM

Liberalism Is Eating Itself: Jon Gabriel
Competition for Thee, Not for Me: Ann Coulter
Elijah Cummings owed IRS $30,000 in back taxes: Quinton Report

Economy

The Death of Money: James Rickards
Is BLM different from Bundy?: Todd Macfarlane
16 Signs Americans Aren't Prepared For What May be Coming: Michael Snyder

Scandal Central

Crony Congress: Rep. Mike Rogers Has Ties to Benghazi--Yet is in Charge of the Investigation: Liberty Blitzkrieg
Key Lawyer in DOJ Office Charging Dinesh D’Souza is Obama Campaign Donor: J. Christian Adams
IRS Agents Blast GOP, Urged Callers to Re-elect Obama - PolitiSite: Politisite

Republican Congressman opts out of questioning Holder - implies he should be behind bars: CFP
Byte the Bullet: Hopenchange
SC DOT pumps millions into Washington, DC nonprofit: Watchdog

Media

My Questions to Juliet Eilperin, and a Message to Jeff Bezos: Power Line
Phony Wage Gap Statistics From White House Spur A Backlash: Instapundit
Megyn Kelly destroys CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper : FAM

The new Inquisition: Victor Davis Hanson
Mark Levin On Obama: “This Man Is A Disgrace”: RWN
Krauthammer: Forget about a Benghazi Select Committee — it’s too late, Obama has won: Scoop

The Myth of Obama – Busted: End of Innocence
Somebody at the FBI seems to want Sharpton dead: Cold Fury
Lefty Letterman: A Top Ten List of the Outgoing CBS Host's Most Liberal Outbursts: MRC

Smoking Gun To Sharpton: You're a Liar Also: Lid
Is Tom Friedman an Anti-Semite?: Rich Baehr
New Jersey Print Shop Owner Boots Publisher of Anti-Semitic Hate Magazine: Algemeiner

World

Kerry's Folly: Cal Thomas
Islam Critic Speaks Out on Brandeis: There’s Fear of Violent Repercussion for Criticizing Islam: Mediaite
Islam critic and feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali hits back at Brandeis after they do moonbat walk: Daily Mail

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Coming soon: a whole new you, in your Twitter profile: Twitter
The Secret Shame of an Unacquired Tech Worker: Kevin Roose
Is It a Good Idea to Vaporize and Inhale Alcohol?: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

Same Pig, Different Lipstick: Christian Mercenary
Comcast says it’s ‘bothered’ that its customer service is terrible: BGR
The Stunning Metamorphosis Of An "Obama Girl": ZH

Image: Keep Calm and Set Them Afire
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Matt Bevin for Senate -- Help Fire Mitch McConnell

QOTD: "One of the disturbing lessons to be taken from the Obama years is that almost all limits on executive power are now enforced solely by the media. The legal restrictions have been revealed as elaborate bluffs, which can be knocked down by an Administration determined to call them. The Constitutional separation of powers has atrophied into a gentleman’s agreement, which Obama freely disregards, while hurling an endless stream of vile slander at the astonished Republican caucus in Congress. He dares them to do something about it, and since the only thing they can really do is impeach him, he wins. The only balancing force left in the rotted husk of what was once a great Constitutional republic are those media referees, and they seem pretty cool with this President abusing executive power to rewrite laws on the fly, refusing to perform his lawful duties, and concealing reams of damaging documentation. They even keep stone faces when he boasts about how “transparent” his Administration is.

Pulitzer Prizes will be left lying on the table, because no one in the mainstream press wants to write the story that brings this corrupt government down, or at least turns a critical mass of Americans decisively against our intrusive, abusive tax system. Just about everyone from the IRS who has talked to Congress made it clear that conservative groups were indeed targeted for partisan political reasons, but the goalposts for coverage were slowly moved to “Lois Lerner or bust,” and it looks like bust. The press yawns, checks its calendar, and thinks about maybe dashing off a quick epitaph for page A23 on the next anniversary of the scandal. It takes very little imagination to suppose this would all have gone differently if the IRS had harassed civil-rights groups and pro-choice organizations during President John McCain’s 2012 re-election bid. There would have been outrage boiling through city streets. There would have been no other media story until heads rolled. And a panicked Republican administration would probably have started working the guillotines immediately, producing a stream of angry scapegoats who promptly received front-page press treatment as heroic whistleblowers." --John Hayward

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

THE PEOPLE'S CUBE: Mozilla Announces New Add-Ons

Guest post by The People's Cube

This just in: Mozilla has launched a new browser called BackFireFox. But seriously, folks, what's the firing of some Mozilla CEO with old-fashioned views on marriage compared to the potential advancements in technology the progressive Mozilla team can unleash once it's been liberated from this guy's heteronormative oppression?

All Brendan Eich has ever done was invent JavaScript. But we all know that the world-wide proletarian revolution is being organized according to a different script, which does not involve Java.

Here is just a small sampling of new Mozilla plug-ins, extensions, and themes proposed by us on Twitter hashtag #NewMozillaAdOns.


DANGER ZONE: As Russia Violates Arms Treaty, Obama Continues Slashing U.S. Nuclear Deterrent

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Disarming America: The U.S. has announced plans to place 50 nuclear missiles in storage as part of its commitment to the New START Treaty signed with Russia, ignoring Moscow's violation of another arms treaty.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday the United States' Strategic Force Structure designed "to comply with the New START Treaty," as a Defense Department press release notes. It means that 50 Minuteman III missiles — out of a current force of 450 — will be removed from their silos and stored away.

The silos will be kept "warm," that is, available for future use and for re-insertion of the missiles.

But it is doubtful that an administration that has as its goal a world without nuclear weapons and that promised the Russians "flexibility" in the gutting of U.S. missile defense would ever even contemplate such a move. The missiles are gone.

The Air Force now deploys three ICBM wings on its bases in Wyoming (Francis E. Warren), North Dakota (Minot), and Montana (Malmstrom). Each operates 150 ICBMs, with a squadron consisting of 50. The Obama administration proposes getting rid of one of those squadrons.

The remaining 400 deployed ICBMs would be the lowest number since 1962, according to a history of the ICBM force written by Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists.

REPORT: New York's Unconstitutional "SAFE Act" Allows for Warrentless Searches and Seizures

Guest post by Rusty Weiss

A newly filed lawsuit claims that the registration process under New York’s SAFE Act allows police to search a gun owner’s home without a warrant, seize their weapons, and not be subject to review.

Lawyers representing Gabriel Razzano claim the process is a violation of the Fourth Amendment which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.

The registration process, according to the summons, is secretive and “results in a mandatory, warrantless Penal Law 400 gun removal visit from police.”

The lawyers claim that these warrantless police searches are “the real purpose of the SAFE Act.”

Via the Free Beacon (h/t Weasel Zippers):

Under the SAFE Act, the New York Department of Criminal Justice (NYDCJ), the overseer of the database, may declare a person ineligible to own or possess a weapon without any type of judicial process.

Furthermore, the suit argues that if the NYDCJ declares a person ineligible, “such a determination makes the person vulnerable to imminent seizure of all weapons, without a hearing or even an arrest warrant.”

The attorneys indicate the state is creating a separate database from the federal NICS database but does not have the NICS protections, such as an appeals process.

Supporters of the lawsuit claim that the SAFE Act also violates the Second, Fifth, and Fourteenth amendments.

COLLUSION: Oversight's Elijah Cummings (D) Collaborated With IRS to Target Conservatives Then Lied About It

The wound to the Republic keeps festering, the infection growing deeper and more febrile. Katie Pavlich reports:

New IRS emails released by the House Oversight Committee show staff working for Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings communicated with the IRS multiple times between 2012 and 2013 about voter fraud prevention group True the Vote. True the Vote was targeted by the IRS after applying for tax exempt status more than two years ago. Further, information shows the IRS and Cummings' staff asked for nearly identical information from True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht about her organization, indicating coordination and improper sharing of confidential taxpayer information.

Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, along with five Subcommittee Chairmen are demanding Cummings provide an explanation for the staff inquiries to the IRS about True the Vote and for his denial that his staff ever contacted the IRS about the group.

“Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional agency scrutiny, communication records between your staff and IRS officials – which you did not disclose to Majority Members or staff – indicates otherwise,” the letter to Cummings states. “As the Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution holding Ms. Lerner, a participant in responding to your communications that you failed to disclose, in contempt of Congress, you have an obligation to fully explain your staff’s undisclosed contacts with the IRS.”

...Up until this point, Rep. Cummings has denied his staff ever contacted the IRS about True the Vote and their activities during Oversight hearings. In fact, on February 6, 2014 during a Subcommittee hearing where Engelbrecht testified, Cummings vehemently denied having any contact or coordination in targeting True the Vote when attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is representing the group, indicated staff on the Committee had been involved in communication with the IRS...


Issa has gone so far as to accuse Cummings of instigating the partisan witch-hunt against True the Vote.

In February 2012, Engelbrecht’s True the Vote received a letter from the IRS requesting more information about the group; one of Cummings’s letters, which Engelbrecht received in October 2012, contained questions that closely mirrored those posed by the IRS. Issa details them in his letter, strongly implying that Cummings based his letter on the one Engelbrecht had already received from the agency: Both requested information about the software True the Vote was using for voter registration, about the process the group used to train its employees, and about the vendors it used to obtain voter lists.

True the Vote’s lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, raised the prospect that the minority staff had exchanged information with the IRS at a hearing in February. “We want to get to the bottom of how these coincidences happened,” Mitchell said, “and we’re trying to figure out whether any — if there was any staff on this committee that might have been involved in putting True the Vote on the radar screen of some of these federal agencies.” Cummings said in response that Mitchell’s tacit allegation was “absolutely incorrect and not true.”


No wonder Cummings has been so anxious to suppress the investigation: he's been intimately involved with the scandal.

Cummings should be censured and removed from the committee. Of course, knowing the cowardly leaders of the GOP, they'll moan "it's a sad day", and do nothing.

Based on my notes, Democrats have succeeded in hitting the trifecta of government corruption. We have a lawless President, a lawless Attorney General, and a lawless House Oversight Committee Ranking Member.

These people need to be dispatched in November and held to account. Talk to your family members, your friends and your colleagues. We have a rogue government; it can not stand if this country is to survive.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Government Power and Evil

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Government Power and Evil: Daniel Greenfield
Why Obama’s Presidency Has to Be All About Race Now: Federalist
Pelosi and Schumer need to read the Constitution: Betsy McCaughey

The Meltdown of the Obama Genderhawks: Michelle Malkin
'Tax Freedom Day' falls three days later this year: DC
Two minority Democrats in Chicago support GOP candidate for governor: Allen West

Democrats, GOP all just united behind Cruz bill – unanimously: BPR
Obama To Attend Texas Fundraiser Same Day As Ft. Hood Memorial: CBS Houston
RGA poll shows Scott Brown ahead of Jeanne Shaheen in NH: Moe Lane

Economy

White House #WarOnMath: Women do not make 77 cents on the dollar: Freddoso
40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency: ZH
Hedge Fund Guys Who Started Mortgage Meltdown Want Your Tax Dollars: VDARE

Scandal Central

Massive Voter Fraud Tainted ’12 Election: Dick Morris
Ex Post Facto – Connecticut’s “Assault Weapon” Ban Is Blatantly Unconstitutional: Bearing Arms
GOWDY: You don’t have discretion on whether to follow the law or not… HOLDER: I disagree…: Scoop

Climate & Energy

The Washington Post Corrects, Disingenuously: Power Line
EPA Studies and Preordained Conclusions: AT
The Truth about Fracking : Kevin D. Williamson

Media

Some thoughts on 2016 from an anonymous journalist reader: Instapundit
Our Racist Media: Instapundit
Sharpton on Drug Sting Tape: Rev says government tried to set him up: NYDN

MOBZILLA. The Purging of Brendan Eich: Wilderness
The Endless Purge: Ace
New Dem Poll Warns Of Midterm Disaster For Democrats: WZ

CNN “Stunned” By White House’s Dishonest Rhetoric On Equal Pay: WZ
Ben Sasse: A Story That Needed Telling: Erick Erickson
Liz Cheney Fires Back at Pelosi: ‘Her Spine Doesn’t Reach Her Brain’: Mediaite

World

The New World “disOrder” Is On The Horizon: Asylum Watch
Kerry Rejects ‘Premature Judgment About the Failure of Everything’ in Obama’s Foreign Policy: PJM
Carney Says Iran’s Hostage-Taker Pick ‘Not Viable’ for UN Ambassador: PJM

Islam Is What Happens When Civilization Loses: Daniel Greenfield
Testifying Before U.S. Senate, Kerry Places Blame on Israel for Peace Talks Failure: Algemeiner
'Recognize Reality': McCain Criticizes Kerry for His Trifecta of Foreign Policy Failures: Breitbart

Banned in the British Library: Pipes
How to Assist Evil: Walter Williams
2013 Military Photographer of the Year awards: Stripes

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Google Enters the Hotel Business, Takes on Advertisers Priceline, Expedia, and Trip Advisor: Mish
Windows XP support officially ends today, still used by over 25 percent of PCs: Engadget
Brands of 1964: Where Are the Foods of Yesteryear? They’re Still Here!: American Digest

Cornucopia

Gender Pay Gaps and the Mighty Obama Samurai Pen: MOTUS
A Floridian Comments On Jeb Bush's Immigration Trial Balloon: VDARE
Pro wrestling legend The Ultimate Warrior dies at 54: Fox

Image: Ukraine: Communist lawmakers scuffle with right-wing
Sponsored by: Matt Bevin for Senate -- Help Fire Mitch McConnell

QOTD: "“For thirty years, nobody has wanted to run against [Mitch McConnell]. For thirty years he has been a bully who has intimidated people, and he has had this Machiavellian death-grip on people, and he has caused people to live in fear. But this our government, we pay his salary, and there is no reason people should be intimidated by a man who works for them.”" --Matt Bevin

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

The Incoherent Idiocy of Jeb Bush, Illustrated

Please tell me if any of this is inspiring.


The hilarious thing about the videotaped interview with Bush is that, like, 50 people were in the audience.

Maybe that's because these schmucks in the GOP establishment treat the grassroots -- actual American citizens -- worse than illegal immigrant lawbreakers, drug dealers, human smugglers, and gang members.

But that's just a hunch.


IRS POLITICAL HITMAN LOIS LERNER: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Corruption: A House panel votes this week to formally ask the DOJ to pursue criminal charges against former IRS employee Lois Lerner. It is time someone in this administration were held accountable for something.

A staff report by House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa reveals testimony by IRS agents that the IRS has not deliberately targeted progressive groups. Now comes word that the House Ways and Means Committee is sending a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder accusing former IRS director of tax-exempt organizations Lois Lerner of committing at least three crimes in the IRS's targeting tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

That crimes have been committed and the Internal Revenue Service has become a corrupt criminal enterprise used to bludgeon political opponents of the Obama administration is hardly in dispute. The charge might have long ago been adjudicated had the Justice Department of Eric Holder, rife with its own very real scandals, not been politicized beyond all recognition.

According to the report, obtained by the Daily Caller, "Only seven applications in the IRS backlog contained the word 'progressive,' all of which were then approved by the IRS, while tea party groups received unprecedented review and experienced years-long delays."

CONFIRMED: Health Premiums Skyrocketing Thanks to Swine Flu and Obamacare, But Mostly Obamacare

The science is settled:

Health insurance premiums are showing the sharpest increases perhaps ever according to a survey of brokers who sell coverage in the individual and small group market. Morgan Stanley’s healthcare analysts conducted the proprietary survey of 148 brokers. The April survey shows the largest acceleration in small and individual group rates in any of the 12 prior quarterly periods when it has been conducted.

The average increases are in excess of 11% in the small group market and 12% in the individual market. Some state show increases 10 to 50 times that amount. The analysts conclude that the “increases are largely due to changes under the ACA.”


...For the individual insurance market (plans sold directly to consumers); among the ten states seeing some of the sharpest average increases are: Delaware at 100%, New Hampshire 90%, Indiana 54%, California 53%, Connecticut 45%, Michigan 36%, Florida 37%, Georgia 29%, Kentucky 29%, and Pennsylvania 28%.

It is believed that the increases triggered by Obamacare will be the biggest in history.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Space Gun Showdown

Cool little contest over at GunNuts:

In the mid 2000s, the Sci-Fi channel was full of space-age guns as props in television shows. Two of the most prominent were the FN PS90 in Stargate SG-1 and the Beretta Cx4 Storm in Battlestar Galactica. But in the real world, which of these two lightweight carbines stands on top of the sci-fi gun heap?

FN PS90: The PS90 showed up in Stargate SG-1 as the primary weapon of the Space Assault Guys, or whatever they were called... The prop department of BG eventually dumped it specifically because it was all over SG-1, and they didn’t want their cool gun to be the same as the other show’s cool gun.


Beretta CX4 Storm: The Cx4 Storm made its Sci-Fi debut in Season 2 of Battlestar Galactica, as the primary long gun of the Colonial Fleet Marines. Knowing that the Storm carbine is generally chambered in 9mm, it requires a bit of a stretch of the imagination to see it taking down armored Cylon warriors, but hey, it’s called science fiction for a reason.


And the winner is... well, you'll have to visit.


Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News.

Larwyn's Linx: Harry Reid Took Money from Koch Lobbyist

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Harry Reid Took Money from Koch Lobbyist: Andrew Stiles
No, the Obamacare Debate Isn’t Over: David Catron
It's All Over But the Hand-Wringing for GM: Peter M. De Lorenzo

Mississippi GOP Chair Works Alongside NRSC To Damage McDaniel: Kuznicki
NRSC With Thad Cochran Would Destroy the Republic To Retain Power: Kuznicki
GOP Benghazi Probe Leader Has Huge Conflict of Interest: Dick Morris

Hillary Clinton’s Approval Drops by More Than 14%: ConTrib
Before 1993, there were no mass shootings on U.S. military bases: Renee Nal
CT weekend gun rally features game-changing speech, fired-up crowd: BPR

A Halo for Selfishness: Thomas Sowell
Gun Control States Have Much Higher Gun Murder Rates: Bob Owens
Hate Crime Charges Possible in Mob Attack: Patch

Economy

How Big Banks Created a Fed to Serve Their Own Interests: Nomi Prins
No connection between school spending, student outcomes: Fox
Hey millionaires, Illinois wants 10 percent of your cash: Townhall

Great moments in union contracts: Overlawyered
BOOM: UPS Fires 250 Union Workers for Refusing to Work: ConTrib
Retail Tsunami: 16 Major Chains Closing More Stores: Wealthy Debates

Scandal Central

Fox News Special Report: Enemies of the State: Nice Deb
IRS agent says NO progressive groups were targeted like Tea Party groups: Patrick Howley
Boehner says the House will hold Lois Lerner in contempt: Scoop

Climate & Energy

One-Way Discovery Channel: Mark Steyn
NYT’s Thomas Friedman Calls Global Warming Skeptics Trotsky Radicals: Sara Noble
California Water: It's the Storage: Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA)

Media

RAT: Al Sharpton's Secret Work As FBI Informant: TSG
Jay-Z is wearing something that is like a white person wearing a “I heart Ku Klux Klan” shirt: YC
Shut Up and Resign Already: R.S. McCain

Lib Law Professor Alan Dershowitz On His Former Student Ted Cruz : “Off The Charts Brilliant”: WZ
OKCupid CEO Gave $500 To Anti-Gay Republican: S&L
MSNBC Releases DNC Propaganda As 'News': TR

Mark Levin Calls Jeb Bush 'Act of Love' Remarks 'Utterly Irresponsible,' 'Typical Liberal Tripe': Breitbart
5,000 legal U.S. citizens getting screwed out of their tuition: YC
Crowd roars for George and Laura Bush at NCAA final: Twitchy

World

The Road to Progressive Dhimmitude: Robert Samuelson
More on that destructive Obama interview about Israel: LI
Obama Bypasses Congress, Will Allow "Immigrants" Who Have Helped Terrorists: ConTrib

More on Medicaid Than Population of Britain, France, or Italy: $2B to Treat Illegals Annually: MagNote
Will The Pentagon’s Secret Space Plane Ever Return to Earth?: Daily Beast
Look At What America Is Giving To Terrorists: Shoebat

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Microsoft Xbox pwned by 5-year-old security researcher: Sophos
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen drops $40M to modernize voting: VentureBeat
Security and quality top companies' reasons for using open source: Katherine Noyes

Cornucopia

Uninstall Firefox: Dennis Prager
Federal Snipers Train Guns on Family For Filming Cattle: InfoWars
10 Prison Security Techniques Being Implemented on the American People: PSUSA

Image: Smart Cars Flipped Over in San Francisco
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Matt Bevin for Senate -- Help Fire Mitch McConnell

QOTD: "Results are presented on Table 1. The CCW dummy variable is significant and positive, but the assault weapons ban is insignificant. Given that the average gun-related murder rate over the period in question was 3.44, the results of the present study indicate that states with more restrictive CCW laws had gun-related murder rates that were 10% higher. In addition, the Federal assault weapons ban is significant and positive, indicating that murder rates were 19.3% higher when the Federal ban was in effect. These results corroborate the findings of Lott and Mustard (1997). These results suggest that, even after controlling for unobservable state and year fixed effects, limiting the ability to carry concealed weapons may cause murder rates to increase. There may, however, be other explanations for these results. Laws may be ineffective due to loopholes and exemptions. The most violent states may also have the toughest gun control measures. Further research is warranted in this area." -- Quinnipiac University’s Mark Gius

Monday, April 07, 2014

DEADLY EXPERIMENTS ON HUMANS: The Mengele EPA

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Mad Science: The Environmental Protection Agency has been deliberately exposing people — including children — with asthma and other health issues to pollution to justify ever-more-stringent air quality standards.

'Improvements to EPA Policies and Guidance Could Enhance Protection of Human Study Subjects," released by the EPA's Office of Inspector General on March 31, confirms that the agency "exposed 81 human study subjects to concentrated airborne particles or diesel exhaust emissions in five EPA studies conducted during 2010 and 2011."

According to the report, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the human subjects, said to have given their "informed consent," were exposed to levels of pollutants up to 50 times greater than the EPA itself says is safe for humans. And there are questions as to how informed that consent was.

The Daily Caller said the inspector general's report revealed that "only one of five studies' consent forms provided the subject with information on the upper range of the pollutant" to which the people would be exposed.

Even more alarming, said the Daily Caller, a new and opinion website, "is the fact that only 'two of five alerted study subjects to the risk of death for older individuals with cardiovascular disease.' "

From the Daily Caller we also learn that "three of the studies exposed human subjects to high levels of particulate matter while two of the studies exposed people to high levels of diesel exhaust and ozone. Diesel exhaust contains 40 toxic air contaminants, including 19 that are known carcinogens and particulate matter."

There's also the issue of tests involving children and the EPA's efforts to cover this up. The agency also exposed children to pollution as part of an experiment at the University of Southern California. In February 2013, JunkScience.com, run by Steve Milloy, a Johns Hopkins-trained biostatistician, reported the EPA giving USC grant money to study how particulate matter affects "asthma in susceptible children."

The Twitter-Popularity of Different Beers, Mapped

Missing some large swaths of real estate but nevertheless:

Ever wondered how far and wide the love of your local cheap brew spreads? Well, wonder no longer, because this map shows where regional beers are most loved...

Using a database of one million geotagged tweets from June 2012 to May 2013 containing the keywords "wine", "beer" or the names of a range of light or cheaper beers within the continental US, some clear regional variations in alcoholic beverage preference are detected... While Bud Light is more popular in the eastern and southeastern US, Coors Light tends to dominate the west coast, with Miller Lite and Busch Light being preferred in the midwest and Great Plains. The dominance of these brands in virtual space is no surprise, as they also dwarf the competition in actual sales.

When I was a kid, Wiedemann (worst hangover beer ever) and Red, White & Blue (which was the discount version of Pabst, if you can believe it) were the cheapest six packs around. If memory serves, in the aftermath of the Carter Depression, high schoolers could pick up a six for $1.99, or so I heard from friends.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

DEMOCRAT PARTY HARDEST HIT: No connection between education spending and student outcomes

Guest post by Rob Nikolewski

SANTA FE, N.M. – For decades, it’s probably the most troublesome question facing education: Why are results for U.S. public school students so mediocre, despite the billions of taxpayer dollars spent?

Andrew Coulson thinks he’s got the answer: Because there is no discernible correlation between spending and outcomes.

“The takeaway from this study is that what we’ve done over the past 40 years hasn’t worked,” said Coulson, director of the Center For Educational Freedom at the CATO Institute. “The average performance change nationwide has declined 3 percent in mathematical and verbal skills. Moreover, there’s been no relationship, effectively, between spending and academic outcomes.”

The CATO Institute is a free-market think-tank based in Washington, D.C.

Coulson just released his study, “State Education Trends: Academic Performance and Spending over the Past 40 Years,” and he points to this chart that incorporates costs and the number of public school employees with student enrollment and test scores:

While spending has just about tripled in inflation-adjusted dollars and the number of school employees has almost doubled since 1970, reading, math and science scores for students have remained stagnant.

“That is remarkably unusual,” Coulson wrote in his study. “In virtually every other field, productivity has risen over this period thanks to the adoption of countless technological advances — advances that, in many cases, would seem ideally suited to facilitating learning. And yet, surrounded by this torrent of progress, education has remained anchored to the riverbed, watching the rest of the world rush past it.”

Larwyn's Linx: Digging Out From Under the Rubble of Obama's Catastrophic "Success"

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Digging Out From Under the Rubble of Obama's Catastrophic "Success": Ace
You Can’t Buy Insurance At Any Time Anymore: S&L
New Yorkers rally against Cuomo regime: Raquel Okyay

War to the Knife, Knife to the Hilt: R.S. McCain
Kansas Legislature Passes Sweeping Pro-2nd Amendment Law: RWN
Florida Senate Demands a “Convention of the States” to Stop Obama: ConTrib

Mr. President, I Have News for You: Carl Cannon
Democrats Stole $75K Worth of TVs During 2012 Convention: Publius
The Establishment GOP Proves It’s No Better Than the Progressive Left: GayPat

Photos, videos from gun rally at CT State Capitol in Hartford: FAM
Otis McDonald Passes Away: SCC
Kansas bill voids local gun control laws: Hot Air

Economy

This Is What Employment In America Really Looks Like…: Michael Snyder
Native-Born Americans Trail Immigrants In Obama-Era Jobs "Recovery": VDARE
Great news. Kentucky jail signing up exiting inmates for Obamacare: Hot Air

Scandal Central

Criminal Protection Racket: Contempt Charge Impotent, Latest on Civil Suit Against Holder: MagNote
Deadbeat: Charlie Rangel Stopped Paying Rent on NYC Office as of 2013, Blames the GOP: JWF
Co-Sponsor of UCLA anti-Israel divestment resolution arrested for false imprisonment: LI

Why did Calif. state Sen. Leland Yee escape terrorism charges?: Matthias Gafni
What Does the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Need with 96 Armed Agents?: Rick Moran
Yee's votes and checks often coincide: LAT

Climate & Energy

March Temperature Data Makes It Official: No Global Warming For Last 212 Months: WZ
Obama and the EPA Know No Bounds With Regard To Climate Change: Flopping Aces
“Climate Change” Might Possibly Maybe Damage Baseball: Cove

Media

How Comcast bought the Democratic Party: WFB
Blood libel in the Star-Ledger: Koch brothers blew up fertilizer plant in Texas: WyBlog
How to tell if a presidential candidate is an establishment Republican: Unyielding

The Liberal Gulag: The Brendan Eich case brings out the nature of liberal fascism: Kevin D. Williamson
Lawyer Hillary Vs The Allegedly Raped Child: S&L (2008)
Can We Credit the New Conceal Carry Law in Chicago for Reduced Homicide Rate?: Rick Moran

Celebrate Conformity!: Mark Steyn
Your Monday Dose of Doom & Gloom, Gotterdammerung-Sized: Stephen Green
Creepiness Runs in the Biden Family: Instapundit

World

Muslim Brotherhood Launches US Political Network to Promote Sharia Law: GWP
Jeb Bush: Many illegal immigrants come out of an ‘act of love’: WaPo
Malaysia Airlines MH370: authorities 'very close' to finding missing plane: Telegraph

China Lashes Out At North Korea: ZH
US sending 2 warships to Japan to counter NKorea: RedAlert
18,965,000 people know the Euro is not working: Commentator

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Had To Happen: Hacking Into A Tesla Model S Electric Car: Antony Ingram
How To Make Your Own Apps: Popular Mechanics
Added Sugar is The Single Worst Ingredient in The Diet. Period.: Authority Nutrition

Cornucopia

"This is the Renegade GOP That Goes After Sellouts on Both Sides": Reclaim Our Republic
Sunday: First World Problems Day: MOTUS
Honda speed-record lawnmower is quicker than its cars: Road & Track

Image: New Yorkers rally against Cuomo regime
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Chris McDaniel for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Monday Should Be "Call Mozilla Monday"

Let this company of fascist cowards hear from you: hear from everyone: Mozilla Corporation - Mountain View, CA 650 Castro St Mountain View, CA 94041
Phone number (650) 903-0800

Current acting CEO is Mitchell Burke. Let her (yes "her") know where you stand on the issue.

Monday's Conference Call at Mozilla
Dial-in: conference# 8600
US/California/Mountain View: +1 650 903 0800, x92 Conf# 8600
US/California/San Francisco: +1 415 762 5700, x92 Conf# 8600
US/Oregon/Portland: +1 971 544 8000, x92 Conf# 8600
CA/Vancouver: +1 778 785 1540, x92 Conf# 8600
CA/Toronto: +1 416 848 3114, x92 Conf# 8600
UK/London: +44 (0)207 855 3000, x92 Conf# 8600
FR/Paris: +33 1 44 79 34 80, x92 Conf# 8600
US/Toll-free: +1 800 707 2533, (pin 369) Conf# 8600

Ms. Mitchell Baker, Co-Founder
Li Gong, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Mobile Devices
Mr. Tristan Nitot, President of Mozilla Europe Operations
Ms. Christie Koehler, Head of Education
Mr. Harvey Anderson, Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs" --American Digest